wprager

Starting to seriously think about cutting the cord. I'll put some info here and hopefully generate some discussion.

I no longer really care all that much about discussing shows in real-time. Lost was fun but, honestly, so many shows are so much easier to binge. You also don't end up investing much time in duds. So a fast internet connection, unlimited download, of course, a couple streaming services, some OTA, NHL Live or whatever it's called. Couple glitches. First, my wife loves the HGTV type shows. Netflix US has them but not Canada. I *think* Crave has them, but need to confirm and also confirm you can get Crave without Bell. Second, recording shows that are not streamed. I assume NHL Gamecenter Live allowed you to watch either love or delayed? Can someone confirm? For streaming content, Netflix is usually included in any smart TV, what about Amazon Prime? Probably not Crave. Likely would have to get some kind of box (Apple TV, Android TV, etc.)

Last edited by wprager on Sat Mar 25, 2017 6:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

_________________Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I've failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success. - Dicky Fox

wprager

Our new home is in Bridlewood, next to the forest. Not there best location, not the worst. TVfool.com let's you check out what you can expect to receive. Use an address or long/lat location, which you can copy/paste from Google maps. In my case, with just and indoor antenna I can expect the following channels​:

By putting the antenna in the Attic I can add some religious change (CITS), CHRO and OMNI.

I think I'm good without those, so an indoor mounted antenna will do. These are typically around $50 for a decent one with a signal boost. Will have to research this a little more. Feel free to jump in if you have info.

_________________Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I've failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success. - Dicky Fox

wprager

I'm not sure how easy it would be to just cut the cord, but doing that in the summertime is probably easiest. Moving in May. Do I keep Rogers (assuming they don't charge me installation)? Dumping them will cost about $200 in penalties. Switch to Bell? Special pricing will cover the $200 penalty, but then I'm stuck with them for 2 years or face the same penalties.

I'm thinking of dipping the toes slowly. Maybe get and antenna first. Then drop to basic and add Crave for HGTV stuff.

_________________Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I've failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success. - Dicky Fox

SeawaySensFan

Our new home is in Bridlewood, next to the forest. Not there best location, not the worst. TVfool.com let's you check out what you can expect to receive. Use an address or long/lat location, which you can copy/paste from Google maps. In my case, with just and indoor antenna I can expect the following channels​:

By putting the antenna in the Attic I can add some religious change (CITS), CHRO and OMNI.

I think I'm good without those, so an indoor mounted antenna will do. These are typically around $50 for a decent one with a signal boost. Will have to research this a little more. Feel free to jump in if you have info.

As I've mentioned before, the best picture I've experienced in my life is OTA. Enjoy.

wprager

"Streaming full screen" as in the web site has an option to go full screen and I want that on my TV. I don't there is a HGTV app for my smart TV or an Android box. With my phone and a Chromecast there are various ways, but most likely a full screen cast is required. And that usually looks pretty bad.

So I was hoping that Android TV or Apple TV had something built in to do a better job of streaming embedded content from a website to my TV.

_________________Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I've failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success. - Dicky Fox

The guy raved about this. A local company makes these (Nuvyyo on Legget). It's an OTA DVR. A unit with two runners is $280 on Amazon, and you have to add an external drive and a subscription to their guide, around $5 per month. This uses dual band wifi to stream to your screen (any screen) so you can co-locate it in the attic with your antenna to get better reception.

Not sure why you have to pay for three guide as that info is freely available via zap2it. Maybe zap2it charges for direct access (REST API or something similar). I'm sure you could write a program to scrub the web page but then any minor changes to layout will likely kill it. So that's probably it.

Interesting, still. I wonder what other options there are. Does TiVo make an OTA version?

_________________Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I've failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success. - Dicky Fox